The 2014 SoCal JUCO Shootout took place July 18 & 19 at Cerritos College.
There were 37 teams in action, including 34 colleges (and 3 independent teams). I managed to see 32 of them in 20 games over the two days.
Here is a game-by-game summary for the 9 games I watched on Friday:
Rio Hondo 63, LA Pierce 49:
Jonathan Cortez and Justin Elliott scored 14 points each and Manuel Garcia scored 10 as Rio Hondo led virtually all the way in a 14-point win over LA Pierce.
Rio Hondo jumped out to a 22-11 lead midway through the first half. Pierce rallied to trail by just a point at 25-24, and was within four points at 32-28 at the half, but after the break Rio Hondo pulled away and led by double figures much of the second half.
Cortez scored 14 points and tied for the team lead with 6 rebounds. Elliott was a perfect 5-for-5 for his 14 points, and he also dished out a team-high 4 assists. Cortez had 10 points on 5-for-8 from the floor, and Mychal Deas had 7 points and 6 rebounds.
For Pierce, 7-foot Center Beau Brown had a tremendous game with a game-high 15 points on 6-for-9 from the floor while adding game-highs of 11 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. Montel Shirley had 10 points, and J.R. Williams had 7 points and a game-high 6 assists.
Santa Ana 64, Cerritos 56:
Kyle Kintzle scored 15 points on 5 three-pointers, all in the second half, propelling Santa Ana from a 3-point halftime deficit to an 8-point win over host Cerritos.
Cerritos held a 27-24 lead in the first half. But Kintzle never touched the rim on 6 straight shots – 5 swishes and an airball – that turned the game in favor of Santa Ana. His third trey of the half gave the Dons a 39-32 lead, and his fourth gave Santa Ana a 47-34 advantage with just a few minutes to go.
Cerritos cut the deficit to just 6 points with 28.4 seconds left, but ran out of time. Chris Kapono made a 2-point free throw with 18.9 seconds remaining to clinch the win for Santa Ana.
Kintzle’s 15 points led all scorers, and his teammate Terrence Blum had the game’s second-highest point total with 12 points plus 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Ramiz Michail scored 9 points and Troyon Butler had 8 points and a game-high 8 rebounds. Du’Juan Williams had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
For Cerritos, Micah Winn scored 10 points and added 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Brian Nebo also scored 10 points, which came on 4-for-5 from the floor, and he had 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Tyler Payne had 7 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
San Diego City 62, Sequoias 42:
Caleb Singleton scored 19 points and Chris Burton scored 17 to lead San Diego City to a most impressive 20-point romp past Sequoias.
The Knights jumped out to a 13-0 lead to start the game, though COS quickly rallied to get within four points at 12-8. SD City pushed its lead to as many as 15 points after a 3-pointer by Singleton made it 25-10.
Sequoias cut the margin to seven points at 27-20 at the half, and continued to chip away at the deficit early in the second half. A 3-point play by Manuel Hernandez with 11:30 left brought COS within a single point at 33-32.
But then SD City pulled away again, this time for good. A 2-point free throw by Jumah Sutton pushed the lead to double digits, starting a game-ending 12-0 run by pushing the San Diego lead to ten points at 52-42 with 3:41 remaining, and the margin continued to widen the rest of the way.
Singleton led all scorers with his 19 points, which included 5 three-pointers, and he also had 6 rebounds and 2 steals. Burton scored his 17 points on 6-for-9 from the floor. Sutton came off the bench for 12 points. Chris Jones also came off the bench and finished with 7 points, 4 assists and 4 steals.
For Sequoias, Chris Smith scored a team-high 10 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Hernandez scored 7 points and grabbed a game-high 9 boards. But the Giants shot just 33% from the floor for the game and turned the ball over 19 times.
LA Trade Tech 57, Santa Monica 52:
Shelton Boykin scored 18 points and added 12 rebounds to lead Trade Tech to a 5-point win in a crosstown battle between programs separated by a dozen miles of freeway.
Boykin, who signed with Long Beach State after a strong career at Long Beach Poly HS, has been away from the JC scene since playing a single year for Antelope Valley in 2010-11, but led his team to the championship of the Say No Classic summer league in 2013 and was one of the top players in the JBL pro-am league this past spring.
In this one, Trade Tech led most of the way, saw Santa Monica rally to take a 3-point lead with 5:20 remaining, then righted itself to come away with the win. Boykin made a 2-point free throw and scored on a lay-up after a steal in the last 40.6 seconds to seal the win for Trade Tech.
Trade Tech started the game with a 7-0 spurt, and held a single-digit lead most of the first half. Santa Monica cut the deficit to three points on a putback slam by Caleb Thonmas that made it 21-18, and the Corsairs trailed by 3 points at the half, 27-24.
Trade Tech continued to hold a narrow lead until Damon Harvin tied with a 3-pointer for Santa Monica that made it 45-45 with 6:50 left. 90 seconds later Jerry Shevlin drained a three to give Santa Monica its first lead of the game at 48-45.
The lead went back and forth down the stretch, with Trade Tech taking a 53-52 lead on a basket by Darnell Christopher with just over a minute to go. Boykin’s free throw came after a steal by Christopher and made it 55-52 with 40.6 seconds left. His steal & lay-up with 20 seconds left closed out the scoring and clinched the win for Trade Tech.
Boykin easily posted game-highs in points and rebounds, and he also has 2 assists and 3 steals. Ellis Bivens had 9 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots, and Antonio Singleton had 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Christopher had 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. Charles Watts came off the bench for 9 points and 5 rebounds.
For Santa Monica, Derrien King scored a team-high 13 points and also had 6 rebounds. But he was the only Corsair to reach double digits. Brandon Baker came off the bench for 9 points. Admassu Williams had 6 points and a team-high 8 rebounds.
Chaffey 40, Fresno 39:
In a battle of two of the top programs in the state over the past decade-plus, Chaffey outlasted Fresno in a scrappy game in which neither team ever led by more than seven points and nobody had a scorer reach double figures.
It was a scrambly, defensive-minded game between two teams that are known for their pressure and intensity. For 30 minutes – games in this event were played with 15-minute halves – it seemed there was no space on the court for either team and the result was little offensive flow but a hard-fought, tightly-contested playoff-type match-up.
Chaffey jumped out to an early 13-6 lead. But that would be the largest lead of the game for either team, and Fresno got within three points at the half to trail, 25-22, at the break. The Rams took a 32-31 lead with 10:01 left, and the lead went back and forth the rest of the way.
Donavon Taylor broke a 37-all tie with a 3-pointer for Chaffey with 2:25 left, and that proved to be the game-winning score. Fresno got a free throw from Dejon Burdeaux to get within a point but never scored again, with Kyle Ingram missing a potential go-ahead free throw with 24 seconds left and Burdeaux missing a potential game-winning shot in the final seconds.
Taylor tied for game-high with 9 points, all on three-pointers, while Mateu Vilakazi also scored 9 points and added 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Carl Robinson had 7 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
For Chaffey, Nick Hilton scored 9 points, all on 3-pointers, and added 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Liam O’Reilly came off the bench for 7 points. And despite the missed free throw, Ingram had a very strong overall game with 6 points and a team-high 4 rebounds.
Saddleback 56, Antelope Valley 45:
In a marquee match-up held on the main court, Saddleback got 13 points from Andrew Bournes and a key contribution from assistant coach Perry Webster to pull away late for an 11-point win over Antelope Valley.
Saddleback jumped out to a 14-6 lead and led virtually the entire game. But Antelope Valley rallied in the second half, cutting the margin to a single point at 35-34 with 7:34 left after a 2-point play by Lawrence White.
But then Saddleback went on a 17-4 to regain control, beginning with a 2-point free throw by Jalen Hall, and pushed its lead back to double digits after a driving lay-up by Hall with just over 4 minutes left. The Gauchos led easily the rest of the way.
Four years after leading Saddleback to its most recent state championship as a point guard on the 2010 squad, Webster scored a couple of points to help key the run. After Hall’s free throw, Webster convinced the scoreboard operator to add two more points to the total – presumably the free throw, which had already been credited – to make it 39-34. Then came a putback score by Kyle Hoag, and Saddleback never looked back.
Webster’s inspiration is still a mystery, though the scene was reminiscent of a game from the 2012 California JUCO Showcase at El Camino in which Bakersfield coach Rich Hughes similarly gained two points for his team that became important in a 3-point win. His only comment as he left the court was a cryptic “Sock it to Mel”.
San Jose 61, Mt. San Jacinto 40:
Maurice Joiner scored 15 points, Stevinaire Young scored 12 and Josue Salaam added 11 as San Jose City raced past Mt. San Jacinto for an unexpectedly easy 21-point win Saturday evening.
San Jose eased out to a 16-9 lead in the first few minutes, but expanded the margin to a startling 14 points after a 3-pointer by Salaam and three straight 2-point free throws by Joiner made it 29-15. The lead was 33-17 at the half, and SJCC led easily the rest of the way.
Joiner led all scorers with his 15 points, which included 4 2-point free throws. Young had 12 points and 6 rebounds, and Salaam had 11 points and 6 rebounds. 6-foot-9 Akil Douglas had 8 points and 6 rebounds.
For Mt. San Jacinto, Sam Williams had a strong game with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocked shots. But nobody else on the Eagles scored in double digits. Tre Hunter had 8 points and 5 rebounds, and Nikko Turner had 7 points and 3 assists.
Sierra 45, Antelope Valley 27:
Sierra entered 2013-14 with high expectation but stumbled to a dismal 11-17 record, but showed it will be much more formidable this time around by winning its first three games of the shootout by an average of about 20 points each over AVC, Santa Monica and a strong independent team known as The Revolution.
In this one, Moss made back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to stake Sierra to a 20-8 lead midway through the first half, and the Wolverines led by double digits the rest of the way. It was 29-17 at the half, and Sierra led handily the rest of the way.
AVC never threatened to get back into the game as the Marauders shot an anemic 14% from the floor, a hideous 17% from the free throw line and committed 7 of their 15 turnovers in the second half. AVC finished an identical 25% from the floor (10-for-40) and the line (2-for-8) for the game.
Pineiro, however, was outstanding for Sierra, making 9 of 15 shots from the floor for his game-high 21 points. Moss was 4-for-6 from the floor, all three-pointers, for his 14 points. Antonio Lewis had points, 4 rebounds and a game-high 4 assists.
Orange Coast 45, Grossmont 30:
Brad Buchignani scored 11 points and added 6 rebounds and 3 assists to lead Orange Coast to a 15-point win over Grossmont.
Orange Coast jumped out to an early 12-2 lead and led all the way against Grossmont, a team that made the playoffs last season but lost much of the firepower from that lineup to graduation.
Grossmont got within four points at 12-8 and trailed by just four points at 19-15 at the half, but in the second half Orange Coast pulled away. Tony Lester started the second half with a three for the Pirates, and Deion Page pushed the margin to double digits with a 3-pointer that made it 33-21 with about 6 minutes to go.
Buchignani led OCC with his 11 points, though seven other players scored at least a basket in a balanced scoring attack. Page scored 9 points and had 4 rebounds. Ajay Metdals had 4 points and a game-high 4 assists.
For Grossmont, Ali Majidzada scored a game-high 13 points and also grabbed a team-best 5 rebounds. But his teammates combined to make just 6 of 25 shot attempts. Luke Jackson, not the former Oregon Duck who played several seasons in the NBA, had 2 points and a team-high 3 assists.
